The Scorch Trials (Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

(Newt's POV)

I wondered how Chloe was fairing, her being able to see in the light as well as darkness. It must really stink being stuck in-between. Before, when Minho had opened the trapdoor and all that light had come in, she'd screamed at him to shut it, and I don't blame her. it had been bright. Minho decided to open it a crack, so as to let our eyes adjust, holding it open by stuffing something into the crack. We all could see much better, now that we had some light, I saw her huddled in the now semi-darkness, covering her eyes.

'You alright?' I asked as I approached her.

'I can only see in either light or dark, not in-between. My eyes hurt.' She said.

Thinking about what I could do to help, I borrowed one of her knives and quickly hacked off the bottom of my shirt.

'Tie this around your eyes a few times if you can. Hopefully it'll help.' I said as I handed it to her.

She thanked me and blindfolded herself. Drifting away from her, I headed towards Minho.

'We're going to have to do something soon. Chloe can't see.' I quietly told him.

'I don't know what else we can do. She's going to have to put up with a few minutes of discomfort so the rest of us can see. Has she tied something around her eyes?' he asked.

In reply, I stepped to one side so he could see her. Both us could see that it wasn't enough though, as she had turned her face to the darkness. Minho thought for a few seconds before asking for a knife. One of the Runners handed him one of the wooden ones Chloe had handed out. He grabbed it and repeated what I'd done.

'Give this to her. I'll open the door a bit more.' he said, handing me the strip of cloth before turning to the hatch.

With a small sigh, I walked back to Chloe.

'Umm, Chloe?' I said tentatively, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around. 'Here.' I said, holding out the other bit of cloth.

'Like this is gonna help.' She muttered as she took it.

As she wrapped it around her eyes, I noticed she was fumbling a little as she tried to tie it, so I reached up and tied it for her.

'Better?' I asked.

She shrugged and retreated back into the darkness. After a few minutes, we were all accustomed to the brightness, but not the heat. Minho had stuck his hand in the light, only to pull it back seconds later.

'We're going to be burnt to a crisp under that.' He said, shaking his hand in pain.

'But we don't have anything to cover ourselves with.' I said.

'Actually, we do.' Chloe spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at the girl who was still covering her eyes.

'What?' she shrugged. 'I stuffed all the bedsheets into my backpack 'cause I thought we might need them.'

'Chloe,' Thomas said. 'You are amazing.'

Two spots of red appeared on her cheeks at his praise, but she shrugged and pulled off her backpack. When she opened her pack, I now understood why it looked really full; it was stuffed with all the bedsheets as well as what looked like a third of the supplies. She pulled them out and began handing them to the Gladers.

'We might not have enough, so some people might have to share.'

I noticed Aris was smirking at Chloe as she said this, so I hurriedly added onto her sentence.